Open Space Advisory Committee (OSAC)

SARATOGA SPRINGS OPEN SPACE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES DECEMBER 18, 2019 5:00 P.M. SARATOGA SPRINGS CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS PRESENT: Tom Denny (Chair), Tim Holmes, Steve Samuell, John M. McMahon, and Maureen Roberts ABSENT: Dave Miller CITY STAFF: Tina Carton – Admin of Parks, Open Lands, Historic Preservation/Sustainability OTHERS PRESENT: NA RECORDING OF PROCEEDING: The minutes are not a verbatim record of the proceedings. CALL TO ORDER: Tom Denny called the meeting to order at 5:05 p.m. PUBLIC COMMENT-15 MINUTES No Public Comment APPROVAL OF MINUTES The minutes from the 10/23/19 were approved unanimously. THANK YOU FOR SERVICE Suzanne (Zuzia) Kwasniewski’s term ended in November. Since the committee did not meet that month, OSAC took a moment to recognize and appreciate Zuzia’s service and hard work over the course of her terms. She participated in a number of important projects, including the acquisition of Pitney Farm. Zuzia is a strong advocate of open space preservation in Saratoga Springs, and her dynamic presence will be greatly missed. 1|Page  SARATOGA SPRINGS OPEN SPACE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES DECEMBER 18, 2019 5:00 P.M. SARATOGA SPRINGS CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS The committee also discussed that there is now an open space on the committee, and all were asked to forward recommendations for qualified candidates to Tom Denny. OPEN SPACE PLAN RFP UPDATE An RFP for a new Open Space Plan was released in December 2019 and is due Monday, 12/23/19. The project must be awarded before the end of 2019 in order to secure the $45,000 previously set aside in operational funds by Commissioner Madigan. NATURAL RESOURCE INVENTORY (NRI) UPDATE AND DISCUSSION Tina Carton updated the committee that LaBella and Associates have hired a new employee that is working on, improving the map set that city staff, and the committee have seen and made suggested revisions to. Labella pushed out the schedule for the project and stated that unfortunately it will not be completed by the end of 2019. There are 27 maps in total, and the committee revisited many of them, noting where improvements had been made. Tom Denny and a group of Skidmore College students in partnership with their GIS lab revised several maps such as the Mean Impervious Surfaces by Census Block Group. Various maps, such as the fragmented and unfragmented habitat blocks, light pollution, and wildlife corridors, need to be reformatted by LaBella. The public can view the draft NRI maps on the city’s website under the OSAC webpage. With new narrative to still produce, and more map production and reformatting of old maps, the new timeline clearly shows delivery in 2020, hopefully by the first meeting in January. Steve Samuell stated that he would be working on a narrative of lands preserved and lands conserved. OPEN SPACE BOND REFERENDUM UPDATE: Tom Denny stated he will be meeting with the Mayor on 1/15/20 to discuss including an open space bond referendum on the ballot. One issue to clarify is whether an Open Space Bond Referendum could go on the city’s ballot in November 2020 or if it needs to be on a ballot without any other referendums. OTHER BUSINESS 2|Page  SARATOGA SPRINGS OPEN SPACE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES DECEMBER 18, 2019 5:00 P.M. SARATOGA SPRINGS CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS The Palmertown Ridge Trail Project is being spearheaded by Saratoga PLAN and the Open Space Institute. They have created a working group together to work on this project, but are also looking to create smaller stakeholder groups to tackle distinctive elements of the plan process. The proposed trail will connect to the Saratoga Greenbelt Trail, which in the future will also connect to the Zim Smith Trail. The subcommittee’s topics will include economic development, conservation, education, etc. Volunteers will be needed, and if anyone is interested, please contact Saratoga PLAN. The Saratoga County Trail Committee is organized and run by Saratoga PLAN, and at their last meeting, Tina Carton proposed adding the Saratoga Greenbelt Trail to the county priority list. Carole Fraser (Volunteer, Retired DEC) discussed a project she is working on to inventory and assess accessibility of trails in Saratoga County, and also about training that she offers to help those who build and/or maintain trails improve accessibility in thoughtful, low cost ways who is putting together a group to work on a Trails Project. Volunteers would be trained to perform assessments of potential trails, by walking the trail, categorizing different types of information, and taking photos to show what is there. This trails project is looking for volunteers, so interested parties should contact Saratoga Plan, or attend a future meeting of the trail committee. Please reach out to her through email (4.cafraser@gmail.com) if anyone is interested in participating in this project. PUBLIC COMMENT No public comment. ADJOURN There being no further business, Tom Denny adjourned the meeting at 6:08 p.m. NEXT MEETING: Meeting Schedule for 2020: We will continue to meet on the 4th Wednesday of each month. The next meeting is on 1/22/20, and will be at the Recreation Center on 15 Vanderbilt Ave, Saratoga Springs, NY. 3|Page